Today we’d like to introduce you to Mary Talley Bowden.
Hi Mary, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am a Stanford-trained physician, board-certified in both Otolaryngology and Sleep Medicine and started BreatheMD six months before the pandemic began. As a mom of 4, I know how hard navigating the medical system can be. So when I started BreatheMD, I created an entirely different experience for my patients. We treat patients the way we would want to be treated and respect their time and autonomy, allowing 45 minutes for new patient appointments that can be scheduled anytime online. We offer on-site tests and treatments, so patients have answers and feel better before they leave our office. We have no financial ties to hospitals, insurance companies or the government – the only people we work for are our patients. We’re open 7 days a week and don’t turn sick people away. During the pandemic, our team has kept over 4500 patients out of the hospital using safe and effective off-label medications for COVID-19. We treat all diseases of the upper airway in both children and adults. Though we are conservative about recommending surgery, if you do need an operation, we use a physician-only anesthesia team and list all of our prices on our website.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Last November, Houston Methodist hospital publicly announced it was suspending my privileges for spreading “dangerous misinformation.” With a very high volume of COVID patients, I have been vocal on social media about what I see, particularly the high percentage of symptomatic breakthrough cases after the COVID shots and how well people with COVID respond to ivermectin. When Methodist hospital went after me, I had a lot of patients leave the practice and faced a massive amount of backlash online and in the press.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
BreatheMD: We are two ENT physicians with a practice model known as “direct specialty care.” Direct specialty care can be thought of as affordable concierge care. We don’t accept insurance but accept HSAs and give our patients a detailed receipt to file a claim with their insurance companies. We spend more time with our patients and offer on-site testing and treatments so they feel better before they leave the office. Because we are more conservative than most ENTs about surgery, many patients come to us seeking a second opinion. In addition to routine ENT care, we help patients with sleep apnea testing and treatment and allergy testing and immunotherapy. When the pandemic started, we offered access to testing when testing was difficult to find. Our practice then expanded to COVID treatment because we had so many patients tell us their primary care doctors wouldn’t help them. We started by offering breathing treatments in peoples’ cars, then expanded to monoclonal antibodies. When the government started rationing monoclonal antibodies, we started using ivermectin and saw how effective it was. Unlike many physicians offices, we never shut our doors during the pandemic, have been open 7 days a week and have now helped over 4500 patients stay out of the hospital.
BreatheSW: BreatheSW, aka Breathe Sleep and Wellness, is located three doors down from BreatheMD and arose from a need to help patients with sleep disorders. The facility has an overnight sleep lab, but its primary focus is helping people achieve better health without medications or surgery. We have a beautiful pink Himalayan salt cave where we hold yoga and pilates classes and give breathing treatments, IV vitamin drips and massages. We have two infrared saunas to help improve circulation and decrease inflammation and a Ballancer Pro lymphatic drainage device for upper and lower body lymphatic drainage.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
Medicine truly is an art, and we can’t allow third parties to come between the doctor-patient relationship. Patients deserve a voice in their treatment, and physicians need to respect their autonomy. Each patient has a unique history; protocol-driven medicine ignores the individual and is potentially harmful to patients.
Pricing:
- New Patient appointment $300
- Established Patient appointment $195
- COVID consultation $200
- Telemedicine appointment $150
- Surgery prices are listed on our website.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.breathemd.org, www.breathesw.com
- Instagram: breathe.md | breathe.sw
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BREATHEmd
